In a computer network, a centralized IP assignment uses a network protocol such as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to configure devices (or hosts) that are connected to the network and thus enable the hosts to communicate on the network. The centralized IP assignment involves clients and a server operating in a client-server model. However, in a network with non-centralized IP assignment (for example, no DHCP server or no configuration for specific hosts), a situation of a same IP address (double IP address) for different hosts may occur. For example, this situation may occur in high availability clusters, and may also occur when a protocol such as Bonjour® (which is Apple®'s implementation of zero configuration networking) with a limited IP range is used. Under this situation, a controlled IP recovery must be conducted in the network. The IP recovery can not always rely on a watchdog device. If the watchdog device is addressed by an IP address, the watchdog device is not an option for IP recovery. The watchdog device can not be used in some environments such as an embedded environment.